11 Lessons Learned: Storm Sandy's Legacy

October 26, 2013|Dan Haar

It's a safe bet that on Tuesday, Connecticut will not suffer the ravages of a storm that knocks out power for more than half the state's households and leaves thousands homeless. As we look forward to the first safe Oct. 29 in three years, we think about the lessons learned, especially from Storm Sandy, which caused an estimated $770 million in total damage in Connecticut. Sandy congealed our self-view as a meteorological target, perhaps because it hit on the anniversary of the freakiest storm in memory, perhaps because it stands as the fourth major storm in a 15-month span. Here, then, are 11 takeaway lessons in our collective experience of Storm Sandy.

1. Really big storms, like other moments of shared adversity, give people a sense of time, place and history.

Decades from now, we may look back at the 15-month period between Irene and Sandy as a defining time of unity, perhaps fleeting, in heavy weather. Bill Hosley, a cultural resource consultant and expert on Connecticut history, isn't convinced Sandy was widespread enough around the state to have that effect, but it certainly could along the Connecticut shoreline, and absolutely in New Jersey. "It shouldn't take a catastrophe to trigger a sense of yearning for community," said Hosley, who maintains a Facebook page called Creating a Sense of Place for Connecticut. "It makes you realize that we're not just all islands and maybe we need each other from time to time, and that there is something of value in community...People not only remember these things but they hopefully change people's behavior a little bit...We ought to be creative enough to think of ways to foster a stronger sense of community without waiting for wars and disasters."

2. When it comes to predicting storms, maybe the Europeans have us beat.

Call it the global forecasting war. Like the airplane wars of Airbus vs. Boeing, it's about technology superiority. And after the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts scored a big win in Sandy by forecasting the storm's sharp left turn into the Northeast days before U.S. models, the National Weather Service was shaken. The U.S. agency rolled out vast computer enhancements in May, and the agency's new head admitted in a Reuters story that the Europeans have us beat — for now. A prominent critic of the NWS, Cliff Mass at the University of Washington in Seattle, told Reuters and National Geographic it will be tough to catch up.

3. Preparing for extreme weather is about more than just public safety and electricity restoration. As climate change happens, we need to think more about protecting natural resources.

A hat tip here to the Natural Resources Defense Council, which came out with a Top 10 Lessons Learned from Sandy, all related to that topic. NRDC suggests better flood zone mapping, attention to coastal land use and actually incorporating global warming mitigation as part of storm preparedness. Climate change by definition is a worldwide problem and it's hard for cash-strapped regions to take the lead on costly solutions, but every effort helps and alternative energy reduces local pollution as well as global warming. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy seems to be onboard. “We’ve changed our approach in terms of coastal management,” spokesman Andrew Doba said.

4. There are ways to maintain power even in enormous storms but they all cost huge bucks or level the landscape.

CL&P increased its tree-trimming budget in 2012 to about $60 million after years of not spending its full allocation. And this year, CL&P spokesman Mitch Gross said, it's even higher, the centerpiece of a 5-year, $300 million "system resiliency" plan approved by regulators. On an average day, 320 crews are out with chain saws. But tree-loving Connecticut is rebuffing those efforts in some quarters, as dreamers push for burying cables underground. Short answer: It's never going to happen due to a cost that probably can't be measured, easily in the tens of billions of dollars.

5. Public agencies hand out recovery money slowly. A year later, the state is still opening relief centers.

Many government departments, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, handed out money after the storm hit, but it took more time than some people had hoped. For example, the federal block grant program for restoring houses just launched in Connecticut where four intake offices opened Thursday. Why? After Sandy, Congress took six months to approve the funding, then the state and federal housing departments had to work out plans to distribute money as fairly and free of fraud as possible. Accountability is key. Several steps required public comment and hearings, state Housing Commissioner Evonne Klein said. Other than the hapless Congress that we already know about, this was as quick as we can expect government to move.

6. The government can clean up after a storm and it can help find jobs for unemployed people, but it's nearly impossible to do both at the same time.